8.8.08...

People here don't understand my obsession with the Olympics. They think I am just excited because I am here, but my love for the Games goes farther back than 8 months ago when I found out about this opportunity. For as long as I can remember I have soaked in as much Olympic coverage as possible. In 2000, my mom woke me up to see the Sydney Opening Ceremony live. 2002, Salt Lake, fell on my birthday, my friends were all over for a surprise party and instead of doing something I made them watch the Opening Ceremony. You get the picture. This why last night might have been the greatest night of my life. No, I didn't get to attend the Opening Ceremony as we all had hoped, but to watch it, knowing that I was part of this huge event, was beyond words. Knowing the drama and effort that has gone into the Games and the Opening Ceremony gave me a greater appreciation for the show.

I had two options last night, go to a local street and watch it on the big screen or go to Paul's, get food, have a seat and know that there would be an English version. And while I may regret it a little, I chose the second option because it was for sure. If things had fallen through with the street option I would have been devastated, seeing as they didn't I am a little disappointed I didn't do that, but hindsight is always 20/20. This doesn't mean I was disappointed with Paul's. He had a satellite English feed that allowed us to understand what the heck was going on. As I write this you are all probably starting the March of Nations, have fun. It is long. (Oh and there is no rhythm or reason to the order of the countries.)

OOOH and I am seeing the US again right now! So exciting...I am rewatching it. On that note, I have never been prouder to see my country march. Of course I am always proud to be from America, but to be in another country during the Olympics and watching the Opening Ceremony just sparks something. I feel like at home we are so defined by what city, state, or college we are from that sometimes we forget we are one. Sitting there with people from Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, China...etc it just made everything come full circle. I can't really explain it and I don't like to get too deep in these blogs so we'll end it there. Anyway, since the feed was satellite it switched off live and we had to wait almost 3 hours to see the USA walk in. The commercial breaks were 7 and 8 minutes a piece. I will never again complain about the commercial breaks. Three of us were determined to see the team walk. When they came we all screamed, watched them for their two minutes of TV time and quickly ran out to get a cab home. Upon arriving home we found out that they still hadn't lit the torch. I ran upstairs and made it just in time to see the torch lit. Which, by the way, I think is a gorgeous torch.

I was thoroughly impressed with the show. Everyone has been so focused on the negatives and I was so glad for the people, BOCOG, and everyone involved that the night passed with few glitches. The Chinese people are so proud of their country, it's history, and the honor to host the Games that is was nice to see the pollution and political comments cease, even if it is only for one night. I think my favorite part of the ceremony was the fireworks. Many of the streets here were shut down for the firework displays. As you watch it you will notice the fireworks were everywhere. The footprints started in the Forbidden City and moved north to the Bird's Nest (probably my favorite part) it was so original and cool.

I have today off and I am going to brave the town. We have been very sheltered lately only going out to Laoshan that I have no concept of how many people are actually in the city right now. I hear it is ridiculous. I have today and tomorrow off so I am doing my last runs now. You will notice I started to post pictures for the last few blogs, right now I am leaving for the day, but tonight and tomorrow I'll put more up. There is one of my in the uniform and the torch!! I hope you liked the Ceremony!! I don't have last night's so those will have to be in the mix to do later.

pictures...

Ok I know I keep saying pictures will come and I honestly had every intention of fully updating all blogs today with photos. It was even on my list of things to do today. However, there was a slight snag in the road. The charger to my camera died, the latest in my technological problems, and the battery was so dead it couldn't even open the camera. THANKFULLY Caty my newest favorite person, has the same camera and I am currently waiting for the pictures to upload. I have Saturday off and under pain of death from my mom I will have photos for you. I am very sorry for this delay and thank you for your patience.

Megan

black magic...

As I mentioned this morning, I totally goofed on the Olympic Torch Relay. While I was waiting to leave for work I turned on the TV because I had nothing better to do. I flipped the channels to see if I could find the BOB (Beijing Olympics Broadcasting) channel and while in the process I was shocked to see what looked like people carrying a torch in the Forbidden City. About thirty seconds later I was screaming because I had realized what I missed. Upon further internet research I learned that the Torch arrived here at 4:30am Beijing time to begin the final leg of the relay before the flame is lit on Friday. I was pretty upset I missed this because I totally would have deprived myself of sleep just to see it. (I'll make up for this later in the day.)

We didn't have to be at work until 10:30, which is why you are being graced with three blogs in less than 24 hours. More athletes came today. The entire Dutch team (including the one and only Theo Bos) came. For all of you who don't know, the Dutch, British, and Australian teams are the super stars of track cycling. The Dutch coach/trainer said that he would not allow us to ask questions today but tomorrow we could. Later he came over to talk to us about all the places he has visited in the US and even dabbled in a little political talk. After which he became worried that we were recording him and backed up his comments with, "I am not here for the politics. I am here for sport.”

Before I continue on I should probably explain the protocol for this whole thing. In my last blog I mentioned that this week the athletes arrive. They are given allotted training times and can come and go during that time as they choose. During these training times we are trying to talk to as many people as possible to get quotes. It is more to establish a rapport and make sure that when the Games start they can recognize a few faces and maybe even seek us out. Anyway, you can't just walk up to an athlete, you must ask first. If one of the managers is there he or she will go talk to a coach or trainer to ask if it is ok. They will then say yes or no. Today we got a lot of "not today's." The German team initially said yes, but they were running late for a party. The sole Ireland cyclist allowed us to interview him but sadly I wasn't there. USA is allowing only one person per day (they are in a bit of trouble for arriving in gas masks).

For some reason I am really nervous about talking to the athletes. I don't know if I am star struck or suddenly lost my gift of gab, I know scary, but I can't chalk up enough courage to go talk to anyone. I didn't come all the way over here to sit on the sideline so I asked one of the boys if I could go with when he talked to the Belgium team. He said yes but only if I asked one question. A little later Krystyna walked the two of us over there to talk to the two Belgium cyclists. This is where I met my future husband. He doesn't know my name and he is married, but it was meant to be. I will let you know when I things are finalized. Anyway, we asked a few questions, took some notes, and that was that. Not so bad. Getting a shot is worse. These two guys Kenny and Iljo gave amazing responses. Typically it is hard to get an athlete to elaborate, let along create a coherent, quality thought. They both had excellent, none cliché responses, that lasted for more than five seconds and gave some MONEY quotes. To make it even better, they had excellent English. If you read an article about the Belgium cyclists that was me!!

While I was typing up the quotes Jason comes running down to tell me one of the torch bearers is upstairs. I sprinted up and took my picture with the torch. I felt horrible asking for a photo but as Jason said, "It's a once in a life time thing." I was so freaking excited.

Tonight we celebrated Andrea's birthday. It was the greatest feast known to man. Pizza, peanut butter and jelly, Snickers, chips, Doritos, CHEEEEESE, crackers, milk, cereal....and to top it all off a BEAUTIFUL, delicious cake from Paris Baguette. It was the perfect meal. Val and I rushed through it because we wanted to watch the women's soccer game. Unfortunately though, China and Sweden were on instead. It was during this time that my roommate came screeching out of the bathroom. I soon discovered that our shower was flushing black water out of the showerhead. There is a disaster left in the bathroom and I am fairly certain that I won't be taking a shower for the duration of this trip. Honestly, I would be cleaner. Right now I am sitting in my bed wishing I had Madden '08 and my PS2 because it would just make this day perfect. The Bears play tomorrow so I am pretty stoked about that and Friday is OPENING CEREMONY! What more can I ask for in two days? Oh wait, I can talk to some athletes! What a horrible life I am living. Time to go deal with the disaster that is the bathroom. CIAO!

a little catch up...

I just realized that I didn't really give you any clue as to what I did this weekend. Ok, that's a lie. I know I didn't let you know what was going on, but I was semi-avoiding it but since I have extra time this morning I will give you a brief recap on the three days.

Saturday:
We arrive at the Velodrome just in time for the test event. Apparently, the schedule changed sometime after we left the night before and no one bothered to inform us. No matter, we were there. Basically the test events are a way for the Managers and BOCOG to see what kinks need to be worked out before the actual Games start. What they needed us there for was to practice the mixed zone and be "journalists" at a press conference to ask difficult questions. Saturday was the track cycling test event. We did our thing and that was pretty much it. It took all of 45 min and then we were free to go. So basically we traveled 3 hours to and from the Velodrome to work for 45 min. Grr.

Saturday night we celebrated Andrea's birthday because we knew that Tuesday night would have been impossible. While we were out we met and saw a lot of athletes, two of which were sitting next to us outside. I chalked up the courage to ask where they were from and the jerks, who spoke perfect English said they were waiting for us to ask. The one goes to Northwestern the other ASU. Both of them were alternates and probably won't see the pool for their events so we decided they weren't worth our time.

Sunday:
Pretty much the same drill as Saturday except we were out at the Mountain Bike section of the venue. I don't know if I have fully explained this but the name of the venue is technically Laoshan Bicycle Cluster. This means there is the indoor velodrome, the BMX course, and the mountain bike course. Sunday was Africa hot. I mean you walked slowly and you were sweating so naturally the test event for the day was mountain biking. We were outside for about an hour, went in to do the press conference and type of flash quotes and again we were done for the day. Sunday evening was a movie and Megan-trying-to-figure-out-her-last-year-of-college night. As you can tell not too eventful.

Monday:
BMX test event. This was dreadful. The BMX venue is at the top of the hill and the only way you can use the elevator is if you are paid by BOCOG. Seriously? That is the ultimate stupid excuse. Anyway, we sat out side for two hours basically doing nothing. They had planned rain delay and then another press conference. I wouldn't say it was a waste of three days but there wasn't much that we did that wasn't done other days with our managers and journalists.

Yesterday the athletes started to come, but seeing as it is still a while until cycling events start no one was really there yet. Most of us spent the day researching and deciding what who we wanted to interview for our news articles.

Right now I am sitting in my bed waiting to leave for work, I turned on the TV and found out that the Torch Relay was at the Forbidden City this morning. We had no clue and I am actually pretty upset because I could have easily gone early before work. Oh well. As Court said, there is always 4 years from now. Time to go. CIAO.

it's a love, hate type thing...

I am completely out of blog ideas. I feel like if I write about what we do at work or the train one more time everyone, myself included, will want to jump off the Sears Tower. Other people have written some fun, interesting blogs like Andrea's "10 things she misses" blog or Alysha's "what I still want to do" blog. So given that I have nothing but don't want to steal ideas I ADAPTED the list concept...the love/hate blog. Beijing and I have a love/hate relationship (kind of like you and I Ash). There are so many things I love about this city and the Olympics, but in the same breath I also hate these things. So here is my Beijing Love/Hate List, in no particular order:

1. No lines: I love that there are no lines, except when I am in line...then I get irritated at this ridiculous concept. To the first part, the no lines thing is wonderful. It is what gets me on the subway in the morning when I am not moving as fast as I should be during Running of the Dragon. In this country I am allowed to weasel my way into any space that fits my big, fat, American butt. And when I am going through the train security check, or in line at any food place, if I can push my way to the front then essentially I am next in line. To the latter, this rule sucks. It is stupid, illogical, and apparently America is the only country that abides by this rule. It is a simple concept. The first person walks up to the desk, counter, train, etc and waits. Then each subsequent person stands behind the first person, thus creating what many people refer to as a line. I also had this problem in Europe. If I am not paying attention or show the slightest bit of hesitation people will pass me up and be gone before I even have the opportunity to give the stink-eye.

2. Beds: I have mentioned the beds before and my feelings for them are again two-fold. At first I laid down on the bed and thought, "Oh dear God how in the world am I going to sleep on this for two whole months?" The bed is like camping sans the nice foam pad or air mattress available for purchase at your local Wal-Mart. This is no Sealy Posturepedic, adjustable bed that forms to an individual's back. The only thing it does is provide an elevated surface to fall asleep on. Which, come to think of it, is probably the most accurate description of a bed in the first place. Having said all that, the Serta 2.1 (a.k.a. what the Pilgrims slept on when they landed in Plymouth) that I sleep on isn't the worst thing in the entire world. Sometimes after sleeping my bed at home my back actually hurts more because our wonderful, American mattresses allow our bodies to sink in, which does not keep the back aligned. And while this bed isn't nearly as horrible as I had anticipated, I am still not going to run home and buy a piece of plywood to lay on.

3. Multiple ice cream and popsicle stands: I haven't talked much about this, probably because I am too busy eating my ice cream and popsicles, but the gist of multiple stands is that on any street corner there is at least one man standing selling various popsicles and ice creams. Just walk down any American street, count the number of Starbucks and that is the comparable to the number of ice cream stands there are in Beijing. So these glorious little stands have any type of frozen treat you could want. Chocolate, strawberry, vanilla King Cones, corn and pea (yuck) popsicles, every flavor fruit popsicle...the list goes on. 90% of the battle is choosing what type to get. Do you get a new flavor like Creamy Melon? Or go with the tried, tested, and true chocolate ice cream cone. So incredibly difficult. What could I possibly hate about this beautiful little stands? CALORIES. Unless I just ate or have already had my frozen treat for the day I find it nearly impossible to not stop. Where in the US can you find an ice cream cone or popsicle for $.25? Answer: you can't! So, my conclusion on this...the Asian popsicle man needs to relocate to America.

4. Cycling: I have already professed my new love for cycling so I don't need to go into extensive detail. Despite the lack of interest in America, cycling world wide easily competes with soccer as the world's most popular sport. I have learned to love watching it and I am beside myself knowing that in a week I will be sitting there, trackside, watching the best cyclists in the world race. (Minor freak out on this side of the computer.) The reasons I hate cycling? A. The number of athletes I have to memorize is crazy. I have all the races down and most of the key riders, but it is all the secondary riders; the ones that could come out of no where and pull the upset that are plaguing. B. This isn't so much related to cycling as it is to the American people, but I hate the fact that when I go home I will rarely, if ever, get to watch cycling. I am going to have to pay for a cycling channel or something in order to keep up on this new obsession. When I left for the Olympics I never thought I would get to this point. Whereas before I was mad I would be covering cycling, now I am mad I won't see it again. I should take up the sport, become amazing, and then make the American public love it. Psssh. Piece of cake.

5. Uniforms: Before I even start, I realize I have not yet provided you with a picture of me decked out in the Beijing Olympic attire. I do not have the photos on my camera. As soon as they are uploaded I will post them immediately. I am very sorry for the delay. Anyway, the uniforms, despite a few flaws are pretty sweet. For the last week and half we have been sporting the uniforms in all their glory, at the stadium, on the subway, at the mall and everywhere we go people turn their heads. Multiple times we have been asked if we are athletes (haha) but generally it is just exciting to have something that can’t be purchased at any of the Olympic stores. My favorite part of the uniform is the jacket and the shoes. The jacket is perfect and I will probably wear it so much that it falls apart and the shoes, how cool is this, have Beijing 2008 written on the side! Added bonus, they are comfortable. The flip side is that the designers of the uniform forgot that the volunteers from outside China have hips and butts. We all spent time the other day cutting the elastic in the back of the pants to help relieve the “muffin-top” effect. Even though we perfected the 8-cut process and alleviated some of the issues, the pants still aren’t the most comfortable things in the world. I have not, and WILL NOT sport the floppy hat that makes me look like Gilligan and the fanny pack is just not working with the image I am trying to portray while asking cyclists for Flash Quotes. All in all, I have never received sweeter set of clothes in my entire life. I will probably frame the uniform and hang it on my wall.

Those are just a few of the many things that I both love and hate about this trip. A recap on today: most of the day was spent researching athletes and watching other athlete’s practice. Andrea received today’s golden ticket to watch the Opening Ceremony dress rehearsal. I doubt there are anymore, but I am not going to lose complete hope until Friday. I cannot believe it is only three days away!!! Start getting excited and reading up on cycling so you can help me get the US to love it!!!

this is the blog that doesn't end...

Thursday was probably the single greatest day here. There was some stiff competition from the Great Wall day, Durty Nellies and China Doll night, and bicycling the streets of Beijing...but as it stands now, yesterday is the favorite to win. Can you tell I am in sports mode? There were so many good quotes and moments yesterday I don't even know where to begin. Simply hilarious.

Here is the day in review...

I wake up too early and can't sleep so I decide to go in early with the photo people so that I can play on Olympics facebook. While I am there some of the Chinese cyclists show up to practice. I get my first glimpse at actual cycling. (Sorry no photos, I am not supposed to take them so I didn't.) Lunch was a significant improvement from the day before UNTIL I go to throw my garbage away. Now is a good time to explain the garbage process at lunch. When your 30 minutes for lunch are up you must take your Chinese box lunch over to the "Food Container" and dump any excess food into that garbage. THEN after they check that you have properly performed part one you proceed out the doors to throw away your plastic container, napkin (singular), and any drink bottles. Along with half our posse I go to throw my lunch away. I am dumping my food in with the other excess food, in the appropriate bin mind you, when Amy strolls up behind me and says "You know this is what they will serve for lunch tomorrow." Remember this is a bin half full of rice, some kind of squash thing, green beans, soup, and a pork of some sort, all mushed together in a concoction that looks like something you might throw up. That will forever change Chinese boxed lunches. Thank you Amy.

We did the typical after lunch routine, practiced flash quotes, and press conferences. Today I won a gold medal. I must be a natural. The second great quote of the day comes during mixed zone practice. Andy, our Sports Information Specialist, (WHO, by the way, grew up in Arlington Heights and went to Buffalo Grove for two years before he moved to Colorado CRAZY!) told me to be witty because the British cyclist I was pretending to be is witty. Probably the wrong move on his part, but I decide to run with it. I will give you the complete dialogue for the full effect...

Patrick: What gave you the extra push to lap the field today?
Me: Well, I really had to go to the bathroom. (great quote number two)
(upon hearing me mention having to go to the bathroom Kelsey looks over and chimes in)
Kelsey: Do you always deprive yourself of the bathroom before races?
Me: Yes, it gives me a sense of urgency and really pushes me to move faster so I can get off the bike and go.
Kelsey: Interesting.

I couldn't stop laughing once I walked away. Honestly, I think I should be an athlete here. Not only am I CLEARLY very physically fit (ha) but listen to those golden quotes. You can't get that anywhere. Double ha, aka haha. Anyway, the only bad part of yesterday was that I left feeling very nervous and unsure of myself. I am probably wigging myself out, but I feel like I am not good at this. I can learn all the information really quickly, who's who, what the rules are and such, but I am not too sure how great I am doing at getting the quotes. I am afraid that while I am sitting behind a journalist I will write something down and the next day find out it was completely different from what he had. BLAH. I really just need to stop worrying about it, but that is easier said than done.

Later we watched some BMX, which is the easiest thing in the world to understand and I read a lot of articles. We had decided the day before that all 24 of us would go out to dinner together. Krystyna was a little stressed so Raul took a bunch of us to get drinks first. We journeyed to the last stop on the red line, aka the last place you can get off before you are in the country side and scaling mountains, where we wait for Bob because we are going to his tea house. Bob's brother and assistant show up and the trek begins. We walk down many shady streets, admiring everyone's cute dogs. For some reason, like the children, the dogs are cuter here. Then, after about 10 minutes of blindly following these two people, we walk through the threshold to ultimate shadyville and Eric (one of the Chinese volunteers) says good quote number three. "They are probably taking us some place so they can sell us as slaves to Africa." This might be the best one of the day, but at this point it too close to call. A few dirt roads later we are at this beautiful tea house. Bob gives everyone some sweet tea, melon seeds (delish), and some other random goodies. He has his assistant preform a tea ceremony and then lets a few of us take a shot at it. Leroy was "very professional." Forty minutes later we are hiking back to the train. As we are walking back through the shady building that is full of 5 gallon purified water jugs Lauren says, "This is where they get the water for our room. Legit?" If I had photos of this journey you would understand why that was so hilarious. Just try to imagine a completely run down building full of these jugs and suddenly Lauren chimes in with that statement, which if you are keeping tally is good quote number four.

We load on to the train and go back toward the Velodrome for dinner. Paul had picked out a Chinese place that was only about a 5 minute walk from the train station. Dinner just added to the hilarity that was the last hour of my life. Leroy and Amy picked out the food, it was delicious. We talked sports, politics, and who knows what else. Raul was sitting with us and he mentioned that he has been working at the Velodrome for the last year, every day from nine to five. My response to that "Oh dear God." (I am leaving this off the good quote list, so do not mark it on your tally sheet.) There were a lot of children there, which led me to believe it was a family place, but all of us girls gawked and smiled at the cute babies. Andrea, Krystyna and I took numerous photos and were classified as pedophiles. Good quote five occurred at the other table. Since there is a bit of a language barrier with our Chinese friends they sometimes don't realize that they need to fluff things up before saying them. So Eric turns to Kelsey and says "What's wrong with you." Upon hearing this Li says "Eric that's rude." Eric then says "Well how do I say it? Kelsey are you in a raw mood?" Kelsey took it in stride saying she was simply hungry. I was not there, but just hearing it later had me on the floor laughing. It might also be Andrea's telling of the story that made this so funny, but seriously "raw mood?"

A little while later Eric decides to offer his services as a name translator, but only to the girls. He starts giving everyone names...things like complicated seaweed, green beautiful window, etc. When he comes over to our table Amy asks him what it takes to translate a name. Eric's response, "The one thing is it has to be beautiful because you all are very very beautiful." We all laugh at this obvious pick up line and Ernst, impressed by Eric's skill to lure in the ladies says "Man he is good" and realizes he needs to learn some new tricks. We then make Amy get her name translated to something "Very very beautiful." This is no easy process, when it is all said and done it took him about 10 minutes to give Amy her Chinese name. Eric saunters over proudly with his napkin in hand and delivers the news. This takes longer than the translation. I am fairly certain he said beautiful 4837 times. Ernst and I watched from across the table as Amy tried desperately to not laugh while Eric describes what this all means. And what is Amy's name? Tree, weeds blowing beautifully in the wind, and eyebrow. Other than the name itself, the comical part was Amy reenacting the gestures Eric used while reading her her new name. I decided to translate my name myself, brilliant, awesome, and beautiful (which was a qualification because Eric made sure to have that in everyone's name).

In all seriousness, while I watched him translate the name what he was doing was sounding out the syllables of Amy's name to find words in the Chinese language that made the same sound. There are a number of different ways to translate names, I also saw bookmarks with names on it that were translated using the meaning of the name. Other people talk to you for a while, try to figure out your personality and then translate your name using those characteristics. Regardless of the process, it is still pretty cool, even if Eric uses it as his way to get attention from the lady folk.

Then the train ride. Oh the train. Coming home it is not hard to get seats. A. it is 9:30 and 2. we are out in the boon docks when we are at the Velodrome. Eric continues to hit on Kelsey while I sit completely zoned out on the other side of the train. The last train leaves from the transfer station at 10:30...we get on the last train. There are only four cars and it is pretty packed. I have some man's armpit in my face. Nasty. Kelsey is taking random photos all over the place, and Lauren is going around popping everyone's collar, and buttoning up our polos so that we look ridiculous. We stop at a station and Kelsey turns to get off. She is bouncing all happy to be off the God-awful train, and it is the wrong stop. Instead of using words Lauren and I just pull on her backpack forcing her back on to the train. You probably just had to be there, but it had us laughing for a good five minutes.

I realize this is the longest blog post known to man, but I couldn't justify my initial claim without a full synopsis of the day. I think you can now see that Thursday does in fact rival the other days listed in the beginning of this incredibly long blog.

I've got a golden ticket...

Wednesday was day three at the Velodrome. Big news came right before lunch, there would be a drawing for 8 tickets to see the dress rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony. The catch, 8/85 would get it. Not horrible odds, but it wasn't like of the 25 or so people working in ONS 8 would go. Lunch was, well, lunch. I had a green orange. Actually, at first I thought it was a lime on steroids it was so green. Regardless, it was delightful.

Immediately following lunch was the big drawing. Each person walked up to the box and made his or her fateful selection. I stuck my hand in, shuffled the papers around a bit, and pulled out a piece of paper. No such luck, it was blank. As we sat there watching everyone you could see each person's look a desperation and hope. Many people, myself included, held their breath for a short moment before opening the folded paper. As if some mystical power would suddenly make the paper say Congratulations. As someone put it, "It's like the golden ticket in Willy Wonka." Leroy was one of the 8 lucky people to attend. He didn't stop smiling all day. And, being the journalist he is, he wrote a detailed account of the performance so that he could report back to us (no cameras were allowed). I have not yet listened. I am trying to be the good kid who doesn't look at her Christmas presents before they are wrapped. Unlike my normal self, I am letting this remain a surprise. We'll see if I can last the week.

After the drawing hoopla we watched cycling videos, complete with crashes. I encourage you to watch this video. Pay close attention to the kid at the top of the screen. No bones were broken and if I remember correctly no one went to the hospital. Typically what happens is because of the friction from the wood and the speed at which a person is riding the bike, if you fall you are more likely to get burnt. I am not going to go into details because it kind of grossed me out. Just watch the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0tMhlhnga0&feature=related

The videos really helped me understand each race. I can officially say that I understand the different events and can recognize them. Check. One thing down, only 188 athletes to go. Piece of cake. (insert eye roll here) We did more mock interviews and press conferences. I was Victoria Pendleton from Australia and won a silver medal. Seeing that I am the reining World Champ in my event I was very disappointed in silver. Imagine, disappointed in silver!

Wednesday I also started the official Beijing diet. I am not sure if I mentioned this before but if I did I am going to tell it again. Andrea and I decided we were going to start a diet that consisted of no western food, unless it is a salad. Even though it has only been three days I have been very successful. The real test will come when everyone is going to Paul's or Tim's, will I be strong enough to decline a delicious turkey sandwich? We shall see.

Evening was the new norm here, blogging and just hanging out. We played an intense round of Euchre which involved more than one death threat and numerous I hate yous. I have no books left so I went to bed with no story time. Day over.